Venetian Rumor

People have acknowledged the power of rumor for thousands of years.

In The Aeneid, Virgil recognizes it as a “monster, vast and terrible, fleet-winged and swift-footed…who for every feather on her body has as many watchful eyes below… [and flies while] singing fact and fiction alike”.

Sometimes a weapon of deception, other times a harbinger of truth, rumor is as much a part of humanity as the multitudinous emotions that fuel it.

The power of rumor took on a new dimension in 2016 as phrases like “fake news” and “alternative facts” entered the collective vocabulary of countries across the world. Venetian Rumor examines the relationship between rumors and the political sphere, reimagining the winged creature of The Aeneid.

It references the visual culture of the city of Venice, which, when it was the center of the Venetian Republic, possessed a complex political culture that revered truth and transparency while being shaped by the enigmatic culture of the masquerade.

In Venetian Rumor, I explore idea that the force of rumor can turn a lie into a truth, and render a truth a lie.

Animarum

Animarum is a ceramic sculpture about the social and architectural destruction caused by the Protestant Reformation.

During the Reformation, religious reform attacked monasteries, images and sculptures of saints, and other expressions of religious belief that had developed throughout Europe.

These attacks broke down the social structures that surrounded many religious institutions and destroyed the art of the common people.

The pillaging that followed helped create the macabre association with the word gothic we have today.

Animarum imagines the moment that a spirit of a church rescues the church's relic and takes flight from a hoard of pillagers about to break through the doors.

This piece is an exploration of linguistics, architecture, history, and the personalization of spiritual belief.

Note: Animarum is the possessive plural of anima, which is Latin for soul, spirit, or life. Research and inspiration primarily from Nick Groom's "The Gothic: A Very Short Introduction".

Phantasos

Hubris

Rest

Local Partnerships

One of my favorite parts about my work is partnering with local businesses to bring ceramic art into people’s homes.

Whether it’s working with the business owner to develop unique designs exclusively for their store, or curating a selection of already-created pieces to expand their retail section, it is an honor to participate in and strengthen the creative economy.

Dragon Eggs

Centuries ago, when cartographers drew monsters at the edge of the map, people believed they were there.

When tales of the Sirens or Cerberus trekked across the cultural landscape of the ancient world, they were generally believed to be true.

Monsters have had a long history with humanity, and with the film and video game industries bringing those creatures to life with ever-developing CGI technology, it is hard to imagine that that history will not always also be a part of our present.

This lingering fascination with the fantastic--even in a world with maps that have longitude and latitude lines instead of dragons and chimeras at the edges--inspires this series of ceramic vessels.

Each piece is wheel-thrown and carved to look like the eggs of fantastical creatures set in faux-metal holders.

By using these vessels, we interact with the long relationship monsters have with humanity, perhaps understanding that at one time it would have been reasonable to believe that the creatures at the edge of the maps were as real as the cup in your hand.